BETHEL -- Possible home heating oil contamination on a Wooster Street industrial site has prompted state officials to take soil samples from the property.

The possible contamination came to the forefront during an investigation into the owner of EnviroTech, Roger Passaro Jr., who was arrested last year on larceny charges.

Passaro, according to court documents, is accused of scamming several customers of the environmental company by conducting soil remediation work after removing oil tanks when the remediation wasn't necessary.

The investigation by the chief state's attorney's office was sparked by a complaint from a former company employee, who told authorities that she "could not sleep at night knowing what (Passaro) was doing to his clients," according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

The employee, according to a search warrant executed on the property several weeks ago when the soil samples were taken, told authorities in January she also witnessed oil tanks being "crushed" in a dumpster on the Wooster Street property, and that oil and sludge leaked onto the ground surrounding the dumpster.

She also told authorities, according to court documents, that there was staining on other parts of the property that she believed was due to home heating oil contamination.

A former project manager for the company, also interviewed by authorities in January, described the property as "a mess." He said there was a partially buried 1,000-gallon tank containing oil sludge on the land, but it was eventually removed.

The property is located within 100 feet of a wetland that eventually feeds the Still River. The river runs through Bethel into Danbury and New Milford before feeding the Housatonic River at Lovers Leap State Park.

Activity on the Wooster Street property caught the eye of local officials as early as 2007, when a Bethel wetlands official issued a cease and desist order against the company for improperly storing oil tanks on the site.

Beth Cavagna, the inland wetlands agent for the town, said the company had cleaned up the site and submitted soil testing results that were within accepted levels.

Michael Zubarev, president of Brooks Labs, was arrested on larceny charges about the same time last year as Passaro for allegedly participating in the conspiracy to scam the environmental company's customers, according to court documents.

The documents say Zubarev falsified soil test results that Passaro used to convince homeowners to pay for soil remediation work that wasn't needed.

Cavagna said the cease and desist order remains in effect and town officials have been waiting for the company to submit a site plan describing how it would properly handle the tanks.

Cavagna said state authorities requested copies of the town's files on the environmental company about two weeks ago.

Mark Dupree, a spokesman for the Chief State's Attorney's Office, which is handling the case, said its investigation is ongoing and declined to comment on whether there would be additional charges levied against the owner of the company.

Dupree said last month the problems were not an immediate threat to the public's health.

The case against Passaro is expected to head to trial at state Superior Court in Danbury later this month. Charges against Zubarev also remain pending. Both men have been released from custody on $100,000 bonds.

Andrew Buzzi, Passaro's attorney, said his client maintains his innocence and that he is "an honest businessman who has conducted business in the area for more than 20 years."